hats off
/hæts‿ˈɒf/
"hats-off" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hats off” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Used as an instruction for people to remove their hats out of respect, generally towards someone of importance.
Corpus desk
Index EN-hats-off · hats off · English
hats off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "H" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hats off |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /hæts‿ˈɒf/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “hats off” in English
Rare enough to double-check
hats off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection, transcribed /hæts‿ˈɒf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for hats off in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Ellipsis of take one’s hat off to. The correct English form is hats off, spelled H-A-T-S- -O-F-F.
Definition
- 1Used as an instruction for people to remove their hats out of respect, generally towards someone of importance.
- 2Used to express approval or praise: congratulations, kudos, well done!
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how hats off appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Soh! ſtand clear gentlemen.—Novv you knovv there vvill be a cry of dovvn!—dovvn!—hats off! ſilence!—Then up curtain,—and let us ſee vvhat our painters have done for us.
"Hats off to the King!" shouted the Captain of the King's Own Guards.
Etymology
Ellipsis of take one’s hat off to.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.